Wednesday, 29 July 2015

Chapter 2 The Nightmare

The Nightmare

The black gorge of her mind is shocked from its catatonia ‘You fell into my trap‘ From the mists of
her memory the glowing orbs of those eyes come into view deep in her dream
state. ‘ All life must end.‘ A
dizzying visage of the clawed winged demon, its hooved feet stepping through the
portal from the Abyss, she looks on through her own eyes , feels her body step
forward and raise a finger. She speaks
but it is not her voice. ‘And
now demon.. you Will Die’.

The demon falls slain by her magics, but it
is not her. The power overwhelms her senses every nerve on fire , like an
opiate it exhilarates and numbs her very soul yet she cannot hold onto it. Her
body is not hers, her mind is ensnared, she is a chattel of some greater evil. She
feels unseen claws pull her soul away from her body. That laugh, she is one
with his thoughts, her body will be his new vessel upon the earth. She is dying
.

She pushes back. Strange sounds like dripping water. The
world spins and she looks down. Her hand claws at her chest, carves away the
flesh. Her toes scrabble for the floor as her body levitates off the ground,
standing exposed like a raw nerve before the gateway to the Abyss. Voices in tongues
twisted and horrendous spill from beyond. She is dying.

There is one last hope. His mind is in hers and she knows
his weakness. The crystal heart only has room for one soul, and his is weakened,
complacent in his arrogance, she has a chance. Her body contorts with pain, she
is dying.

Time eternal like an endless void overwhelms them both. ‘ I am not weak. You are the weak, Skythia is
my shepherd, and I am her tyranny against evil and the bringer of death. This
is my legacy.’ She pushes once more with all that she is. Feels her flesh
tear, her skin flayed, her body scorched. And watches as Zhangs soul is ripped
from her and pulled into the Abyss…

Haennah wakes from the nightmare, yet she cannot breathe,
standing upright she grasps for the very air to fill her lungs. And with a
rasping intake screams out the horror of her mind into the darkness of the
room. The door flies open and there is
Norgarth, her head swims and her legs buckle beneath her, she feels herself
being caught and then darkness takes her once again.

* * * * *

Strange sounds like dripping water wake her. She hesitates
her mind fuzzy, such nightmares were beyond anything she could recall. Her body felt weak, tired beyond measure as
if it had gone through some great ordeal yet she couldn’t remember… wait…

She pushed herself up so she sat, she was in a bed , and on
the flying ship. This made no sense… she couldn’t remember. … but wait.

Slowly she reached up with her hand to her
rib cage and froze. She felt a cold hard point and felt a steady rhythmic pulse from an unmoving
surface. The blanket slipped down off her shoulders as she lowered her eyes. Her
mouth moved, repeating the same word over and over, but no sound came. Wetness
landed upon her hand , one drop. She felt another roll down her cheek, it
struck the keen edge of the jagged heart and splashed into tiny drops that
scattered rainbow motes of light across the harsh black unforgiving peaks and
canyons of the crystal heart. ‘ no……
no…….. no no nO No NONONONONONOO. ‘

Her sobs racked her weakened body and she slumped back down,
drawing her legs up and clutched at her chest. Her mind was overwhelmed with a
tidal wave of horror, regret and panic, and it felt it would never end. Finally
she sank once more into the oblivion of sleep.